


Whisper My Name

by Goodnightwife



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, F/M, Getting to Know Each Other, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Bucky Barnes, Reader-Insert, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, cynical reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24599410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goodnightwife/pseuds/Goodnightwife
Summary: Y/N is cynical about life, love, and everything in between although she tries to make the best of it and is determined to make this SHIELD thing work but she often leaves her post-mission injuries untreated, earning herself a stint in the hospital. Now she is partnered with Bucky Barnes but can this partnership really be a good idea? Can Bucky convince her that she is worth being taken care of, even by herself? Will working with Y/N bring Bucky any closer to being is old self or is that old self truly and completely gone? Follow along through their journey of self-discovery as they work together toward ridding the world of Hydra and other evil along the way.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader, james "bucky" barnes x reader
Comments: 9
Kudos: 30





	1. Intro

Steve Rogers smiled to himself as he listened to the footsteps echoing down the hallway toward his office. He knew the sound of his best friend’s steps almost better than his own and he knew the reason those steps were headed in his direction. Y/N. Steve had left her file on their shared kitchen table this morning along with Fury’s directive (fueled by Steve’s recommendation, of course) for the new partnership of Bucky and Y/N for the foreseeable future. 

Bucky strode into Steve’s office, slid Y/N’s file onto the desk, and sat down in one of the large chairs across from the desk and waited until Steve looked up from his paperwork. 

“Well?” Steve asked, his eyes moving from the papers to his fellow super soldier. “What do you think?”

“My first thought was ‘why me?’ but I think I answered that the more I read of her file. I mean, damn man!” Bucky chuckled and ran a hand down his face. “She makes you look damn near cautious!”

“I know, right!” Steve agreed, laughing at his friend’s comparison. “That’s almost exactly what Fury said too. Y/N is pretty thoughtless when it comes to her own personal safety and who better to help her get her head on straight than the guy who pulled me out of more scrapes than I can count?”

“I don’t know man, you were smaller than she is,” Bucky shook his head with a grin. “And a lot weaker too, I’ve seen her train with Nat and Clint. Y/N’s no slouch. Get her angry enough and she could probably take out everyone except you, me, and Hulk. And I’m pretty sure she can shoot as well as everyone except maybe me and Clint. Her file doesn’t say much about her other skills but I know Nat has taught Y/N more than a few of her choice ‘Red Room’ skills. What do you think of her psych eval?”

“I think that people can change. The SHIELD psychiatrist labeled her as impulsive and reckless but I don’t think that’s all she is. They never delved into the reason she doesn’t take care of herself on missions. Some could see it as her giving 110% all the time,” Steve explained. 

“But you don’t see it that way?” Bucky prompted. 

“Not entirely,” Steve shook his head and scratched his chin as he thought. “I think there’s more. I think there’s something deeper that drives her to be the way she is. And it could be that she can’t articulate it because she doesn’t even know. She just needs someone to work with her, be patient with her, keep her alive long enough to bring it out.”

“And you really think that I’m the man for the job?” Bucky pushed. 

“Look, I’m not saying that keeping Y/N in one piece is going to be an easy assignment, Buck,” Steve admitted. “But there’s no one better for the job than you. You have the strength and speed to stay ahead of her and, to be perfectly honest, there’s no better mother hen than you, pal.”

“But do I have the patience anymore?” Bucky wondered, scratching his chin. “It’s been a long time since it was you and me in some back ally fighting off a bunch of punks. We were very different people back then, Steve.”

“I know, Buck. Believe me, I’m feeling it too,” Steve stood and walked around the desk to sit in the chair next to his friend. “But wouldn’t you like to know for sure? The programming is gone. There are some things that we know are still coming back slowly, some memories that are still kind of faded and might not come back at all but other parts of your personality are solidly back. In my mind, this is one of things that I remember about you that I see coming back, the protector.”

“The protector, huh?” Bucky looked dubious. 

“Would you rather I call you ‘the mom’?” Steve chuckled before he grew more serious. “Even when you couldn’t remember who you were or who I was and who we were to each other, you were saving my life, pulling me from the water. Saving my ass on instinct.”

“Yeah well, that’s because it was you, I guess,” Bucky excused with a wave of his shining metal hand dismissively.

“Wouldn’t you like to know for sure?” Steve challenged, leaning toward his friend. “You never used to settle for guesses and conjecture before.”

Bucky rubbed a hand down his face and stood. He paced around the office a couple of times before he flopped back into his chair. 

“Alright, Steve,” he sighed. “I’ll give it a try but I can’t make any promises. I’ll partner with her, try to keep her out of trouble, maybe even talk some sense into her. But I can’t promise to make her fall in line as much as you might want her to.”

“I’ll take what I can get,” Steve laughed. “Keep her alive until you can teach her how to stay alive on her own and everything else will fall in line.”

“I’ll do my best, pal.”

“That’s all anyone can expect, Buck.”

“So, what’s the next step?” Bucky asked, standing and moving toward the window overlooking the compound’s training bay. 

“Y/N should be finishing her meeting with Fury any second, he said he would tell her the good news,” Steve stood and grinned down at his shoes. 

“Will she think it’s good news?” Bucky inquired as Steve joined him at the window and both super soldiers listened to light footsteps tap down the hallway toward them.

“We’re about to find out,” Steve mumbled. 

“HEY THERE PARTNER!” Y/N’s happy voice boomed from the doorway.

“Sounds like it’s good news to me,” Steve slapped Bucky on the shoulder and the two turned to see a grinning Y/N plop herself sideways into the chair Bucky had just vacated, her studded combat boots dangling over one arm of the chair and her back against the other.

“So, a little one-eyed birdy told me that we are partners now, Buck,” Y/N said, bending backward over the chair arm to peer at the two still standing at the window, her silver and blue hair nearly touching the floor.

“I’ve heard that too,” Bucky replied with a small grin as he walked over to her and put his hand under the back of her dangling head and lifted her back upright and sat in the other chair. “Although my birdie had two eyes.”

“Huh,” Y/N huffed. “Bragger.” Bucky snickered. 

“Alright you two,” Steve took charge as he sat down behind his desk. “You have a week to train together and get used to each before your first mission as partners. Hill will fill you in on the specifics later but it’s basically a stakeout to confirm a suspected Hydra installation.”

“Oh, those are so boring!” Y/N complained. 

“It’s the perfect first mission for brand new partners,” Steve rebutted. “Plenty of time to get to know each other. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find yourself in the thick of it soon enough. Don’t waste this down-time.”

“Sure Steve,” Bucky replied and stood, pulling Y/N up by her hand. “Let’s get out of Steve’s hair… partner.”

“Oh, hey, super important question, compadres,” Y/N asked as she followed Bucky out of the office with a spring in her steps. “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Think it through before answering, this could impact our entire partnership.”

“Oh boy,” Bucky moaned.

Steve looked down at the paperwork on his desk with a smirk. This was going to be fun to watch.

* * *

Bucky and Y/N didn’t get a full week before Hill found them and gave them the specifics of their first mission. It truly was one of more boring assignments but Bucky knew it was just the beginning of their partnership and many more missions would quickly follow. They staked out the suspected Hydra installation for a full week until they accepted that it really was just a normal coin laundry that was a front for a normal money laundering scheme. 

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Y/N grumbled as she packed up her things in their small room across the street from the coin laundry. 

“I don’t know about that,” Bucky countered, cleaning his guns one last time. “Every criminal we get off the streets is a victory; it doesn’t always have to be Hydra or some crazy organized crime syndicate.”

“I know, and I agree,” Y/N turned to watch Bucky’s hands move over his weapons. It was very calming to her, she especially liked it when he assembled his guns blindfolded. “I was just hoping to show Steve how good of a team we are our first time out.”

“Oh, don’t you worry,” Bucky smiled softly at Y/N as he reassembled his 9mm without looking. “We’re going to be the best team SHIELD has and Steve won’t know what hit him when we prove that we’re the best every time we’re out.”

“Even better than Clint and Nat?” Y/N challenged. 

“Especially them,” Bucky smirked. “Now, pack up, we need to hit the road.”

Y/N made quick work of throwing the rest of her things into her bag. Truth be known, she didn’t have much. She lived light and traveled lighter. No need to weigh yourself down with things, Y/N thought, things never lasted anyway. Not much lasted in Y/N’s life. Her family was a complete unknown to her. She grew up in foster homes and aged out of the system before anyone adopted her, so at 18 years old she chose a new name and made a life for herself without anyone’s help. Learning how to defend herself early had come in handy, she’d been able to convince one of her foster families that putting her in self-defense classes would keep her off the streets and out of trouble. The rest came naturally. 

Y/N had lived through some tough situations with various foster families. She wasn’t a bad kid, just very active and many people couldn’t handle that. Some were dismissive, others tried to be proactive and give her things to keep her busy, and others just yelled and hit. The abusive ones were rare but it gave Y/N a drive to protect others. Some of the smaller kids in the home couldn’t protect themselves and Y/N took that role upon herself, sometimes to her own detriment. And when you live in an abusive situation, medical help isn’t always readily available. 

When she joined SHIELD, her training was enhanced by her street style of fighting and the ability to learn quickly. She was also stronger than most and a better shot, she didn’t question it though, she attributed it to her childhood experiences of needing to act quickly and decisively. Y/N knew Steve didn’t always appreciate her style or tactics, but it got the job done. She wasn’t good at accepting help but she was determined to succeed, to make this partnership succeed.

That drive also landed her in trouble when she refused the medical care that she needed. She had landed herself in the hospital more than once. Fury had been blunt when he explained the reason for her partnership with Bucky, she needed a caretaker until she got it “through her thick skull” that she needed to take care of herself. It was either accept having a partner or be benched at a desk job until she learned her lesson. 

The ride back to the compound was mostly silent, Bucky and Y/N enjoying a comfortable silence. They had talked plenty while staring across the street at the laundry joint. Bucky opened up about his experiences with Hydra and his own drive to redeem himself for the things he was forced to do as the Winter Soldier. Y/N told him of her past, she didn’t bother hiding things, even her own cynicism about life. She was happy her partner was Bucky and not some SHIELD flunky who was forced to be her babysitter, Bucky felt like an actual partner. They knew they were on the same page when it came to doing good and helping others.

When they got back to the compound, they were headed out of the garage to go their individual rooms when Steve found them. 

“Don’t bother unpacking you two,” he announced. “You’re heading right back out in the morning. The jet will be ready and waiting at 6am and you’ll be briefed on the way.”

Y/N and Bucky nodded and looked at each with excitement. 

“I hope you enjoyed your week of rest,” Steve added as he walked away. “Because it gets harder from here on out.”


	2. The Deal

Y/N landed hard on her back, her breath escaping with an “oof”. The Hydra agent stood over her with a sickly satisfied grin on his nasty face. A thick scar ran down his left cheek from somewhere behind his ear to the corner of his mouth, making his whole cheek crinkle in a strange way when he grinned. He reached down and grabbed Y/N by the front of her tactical vest and yanked her to stand on her feet, causing her head to whip back and snap up with force. This was going well. Y/N’s eyes narrowed with determination as she gritted her teeth, grabbed the agent by the lapels of his slightly sticky suit jacket that smelled like a nauseating combination of Curve for Men and day-old tuna salad and heaved him across the room with all her strength. He flew high before slamming into the wall and landing in an unconscious heap on the floor. 

“Sleep sweet, Crinkleface,” Y/N muttered as she huffed a breath, clearing his fowl order from her nostrils. 

“Will you hurry up, Y/N?” Bucky Barnes hissed through the coms in Y/N’s ear. 

“Aw, come on, Bucko, you know I like to play a little,” Y/N replied with a smirk as she moved back to the computer on the large oak desk and confirmed that the files had completely downloaded to the memory stick. She pulled the stick out and tucked it away in her zippered hip pocket. “I’m on my way.”

“Hurry, I’m on my way to the jet,” Bucky replied.

“Is our cover blown?” Y/N questioned as she repelled herself out of the third story window of the mansion. The sounds of the party on the first floor began to filter through the coms. 

“No, I’m just done with this scene and I’m hungry,” Barnes answered, the sounds of the party fading in Y/N’s ear. 

“You could have grabbed something at that fancy party, dude,” Y/N answered, her feet touching the ground and she took off at a jog toward the jet. 

“I wouldn’t touch their food with a ten-foot pole,” Bucky growled back, the sounds of the jet warming up reaching Y/N’s ears. “It was all tiny and filled with who knows what. How close are you?”

“I’m here,” Y/N’s voice popped through the coms and into Bucky’s other ear, causing him to jump slightly. “Let’s get out of here. If we hurry, we can still make dinner at the compound. I think it’s Taco Night.”

With a grunt of acknowledgment, Bucky had the jet in the air and hurtling toward home in no time. Y/N leaned back in the copilot’s seat with a sigh, closing her eyes for the trip home. She had learned long ago to take rest wherever and whenever she could get it. 

“You got all the info?” Bucky asked, pulling her from her dozing. 

“Don’t I always?” Y/N demanded with a smirk, handing over the small thumb drive. 

“Who’s Crinkleface?” Bucky asked, taking the drive and plugging it into the jet for FRIDAY to pull the files and send them to SHIELD for processing.

“What?” Y/N looked at him in confusion. 

“You said ‘sleep sweet, Crinkleface’ back there. Who’s Crinkleface?” Bucky asked again, not taking his eyes from the controls. 

“Oh, just some goon with an unfortunate face,” Y/N replied, throwing her hands behind her head and leaning back in the chair. “He who thought he was better than me. He learned the truth quickly. God, he stunk and I don’t even want to think about the sticky stuff on his jacket.”

“Are you alright?” Bucky asked tightly.

“Just a little nauseous.”

“Y/N, be serious.”

“Umm,” Y/N took a quick personal inventory. “A little bruised maybe but no worse than I was before I went in probably.” 

“Prove it,” Bucky turned his head and stared at her darkly. This had become a typical post-mission conversation they had ever since Steve paired them up a nearly six months ago. Y/N knew she had a tendency to be reckless with herself and maybe a little thoughtless with her recovery but didn’t quite understand why Bucky acted like she was made of glass. Y/N tried to be patient with his medical checks and did her best to make a game of it. 

“Alright, fine,” Y/N hopped out of her seat. Bucky engaged the autopilot and followed her to an open area of the jet and stood against the wall with his arms crossed over his expansive chest. 

“Go ahead,” he prompted.

Y/N nodded and began what they had established as acceptable proof that she wasn’t injured. She went through a quick series of stretches and yoga poses that proved agility and strength. No broken bones or bruised ribs.

“Okay, nothing broken and you seem strong,” Bucky nodded, stepped closer. Y/N struggled to stand still as his hands ran down her arms, his fingers firm on her skin, his eyes sharp on her face. 

“Buck, I’m going to have bruises, it’s just how this job works,” Y/N said with a wince as he found a place where Crinkleface had managed to get a particularly strong grip. 

“I understand that, doll, and I wouldn’t expect differently,” Bucky acknowledged, his fingers investigating the side of her neck and causing her to wince. “But what I want you to know and accept is that you are not invincible and you need to take care of yourself.”

“What makes you think I don’t take care of myself?” Y/N challenged, pulling herself away from his hands. Her neck ached from Crinkleface jerking her around. 

“Cairo. Singapore. Dubai.” Bucky said, counting on his fingers, naming three missions where Y/N had let her injuries go unnoticed and untreated and landed herself in the hospital for a few weeks. “Oh, and Houston!”

“Houston was Clint’s fault,” Y/N shot back. “I would have been perfectly fine if he hadn’t dropped that tree on me!”

“Alright, I’ll grant you Houston because Clint’s an idiot, but you have to do better, Y/N,” Bucky replied. “You will get hurt, but you have got to take care of yourself too. And you have to let me help because I’m your partner, I’m here to help you, I have your back.”

“I know you do, Buck,” Y/N smiled, “and I trust you. But do we have to do this after every single mission? I mean seriously, I’m not a child!”

Bucky tilted his head and considered his partner for a moment. 

“How about we make a deal?” he brokered. 

“I’m listening.”

“We can skip the post-mission shakedown for the next mission but if you are injured and do not report it, get it checked out and taken care of properly, I get to take whatever precautions I feel are necessary to ensure your safety from there on out and you don’t get a say in it.”

“You can’t bench me, only Steve or Fury can do that!” Y/N argued, ready to fight.

“No, no,” Bucky assured her, resting his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not talking about that. We are partners and we will continue to work, take missions, and do whatever Steve orders and go wherever he sends us. But I will take whatever precautions I deem necessary at the time to see to your safety as well as get the job done. Think you can handle that?”

“Well,” Y/N paced a couple of steps away and then turned back. “You aren’t going to bench me?”

“Nope.”

“And you aren’t going to try to keep me from doing my job?”

“Not at all.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay,” Y/N stuck out her hand. “You’ve got a deal, partner.”

“Good,” Buck shook her hand once, firmly, then pulled her closer to his chest so that he looked down directly into her eyes. “But I’ll warn you now, if you let any injuries go to the point that you are hospitalized, you might have the Soldier to deal with.”

“I can handle him,” Y/N joked, her cheeks heating up at the closeness. “He’s a pushover for a pretty face.”

“You think so, huh?” Bucky’s right eyebrow flirted with his hairline as he released her hand, turned, and went back to the cockpit. Y/N snickered and followed him, plopping into the copilot’s seat, throwing her feet up on the console, and closing her eyes. Another one in the bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Find me on Tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/mrsgoodnight)


	3. Valentine's Day

The subway was crowded. Shocker. And everything was red for some reason. Y/N held onto the handle above her head and tried to stand as still as she could. As the train braked, her nose banged into the arm of the man next to her. His black turtleneck and the fact that his armpit was clearly a deodorant-free zone made Y/N wonder about his occupation. Murmuring apologies, she tried to squirm out from under his arm, tripped over someone’s protruding umbrella, and stumbled into the denim-covered lap of the man sitting in front of her. 

“Cheers,” he said with a wink, as she wiggled off his leg. 

Ah, “cheers,” that wonderful multipurpose English term for anything from “hello” to “thank you” to “nice ass you have there.” New York never failed. Y/N turned around and faced Nat as she sat between a Jewish Rabbi and a large construction worker who was clearly at the end of a very long and dirty day. For all the people (and smells) around her, Nat looked as if she could easily be lounging comfortably in her own living room. A bright red poster above her head declared incredible prices on flowers, candy, and balloons. 

“Comfy?” Y/N asked her. 

“Always,” Nat smiled up at her. Y/N grinned back and immediately shot her hand out to the wall above Nat’s head to keep from falling onto her as Clint pushed his way into her space. 

“Busy today, huh?” he asked, trying to keep his footing. The train finally stopped and most of the people, including the Rabbi, construction worker, and Black Turtleneck guy, exited the car. A few more people got on but when the seats next to Nat opened up, Y/N and Clint jumped into them. 

“So, how’s the partnership going, Y/N?” Nat asked as the doors closed and the train started moving again. The glass on all the doors was covered in red film, casting a reddish glow across all the faces of people who stood near them. It also made everything outside the door look red. 

“It’s good I guess,” Y/N replied with a shrug, brows furrowing at the red-covered panes of glass. 

“You guess? You mean you don’t know,” Clint pushed, leaning forward slightly to talk around Nat. 

“No, I mean,” Y/N stumbled over her words, turning her full attention to her friends. “It’s fine. Bucky and I work well together and we’ve worked out a deal to handle the real reason Fury and Steve made us partner together.”

“And that would be?” Nat prompted, examining a perfect fingernail on her left hand. 

“The deal or the reason?” Y/N asked, not sure what information Nat wanted. She probably already knew everything already anyway, Nat tended to know things. 

“Both,” Clint put in. Clint never knew anything. 

“Well, the reason Fury sited was that I don’t take care of myself and let injuries go untreated,” Y/N began. Nat nodded sagely. “Bucky had instituted a series of checks that we would go through post-mission to prove that I was injury-free but we struck a deal that if I don’t take care of myself on my own, he would have carte blanche on what he termed “taking precautions” and I don’t get a say in it.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Nat said with a nod, her face flashing with a red glow as the outside lights flew by. “You know how bad you get about taking care of yourself. Fury probably thinks you have a death wish.”

“I don’t have a death wish,” Y/N countered. “I just sometimes don’t see the point in fighting the inevitable. We have a dangerous job and we will get hurt, it’s unavoidable.”

“True,” Clint nodded knowingly, his own face and arms littered with purple band-aids. Nat gently swatted him on the chest. 

“I think the point is to help you learn to take care of yourself,” Nat commented. “Also, you need a partner anyway and so does Bucky. It just makes sense.”

Y/N nodded and was about to reply when the train braked to a fast halt, passengers exited and new people entered. A mother with a little girl, maybe four years old, entered and sat directly across the car from them. The little girl, her dark braids ended in colorful beads, carried a bright red balloon with hearts on it, and her little pink T-shirt declared that she was “accepting applications for love” with a teddy bear snuggling a heart. She hopped up on the seat next to her mother and grinned a toothy grin at them, her beautiful, light brown face shining with innocence. 

“What’s going on around here?” Y/N demanded of Nat and Clint. “What’s with all the red? It’s driving me nuts.”

“Um, that would be Valentine’s Day,” Clint hesitantly offered, his eyes assessing Y/N as if she might need psychiatric assistance. 

“Really?” Y/N questioned; a frown deepened her features as she did some mental calculation of the days. “Already? Wasn’t it just Christmas a couple of months ago?”

“That is generally how time works, Y/N,” Nat answered with a smirk. “What’s the matter with Valentine’s Day?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s just kind of a scam, isn’t it?” Y/N said, looking around at all the red that littered the subway car. 

“A scam? Do you think love is a scam?” Clint posed. 

“I guess I just don’t see the need for it,” Y/N replied simply with a small shrug, her giving away no emotion.

“Don’t you believe in ‘happily ever after’?” Nat teased, her eyelashes fluttering. 

“Oh please!” Y/N retorted. “You know that ‘happily ever after’ is for books and fairytales, not real life. No one in real life has ever or will ever have that.”

A tiny indignant gasp invaded Y/N’s ears. She turned from her friends to see the little girl staring at her from across the car. Her little hands held tight to the string on her balloon, even though it was fastened to her belt loop. Her eyes though, her big brown eyes spoke betrayal as she stared at Y/N.

“Except you, sweetie,” Clint assured her with a soft smile, leaning towards her as if he were divulging national secrets. “You get the best ‘happily ever after’ a girl could ever want. The sky’s the limit!”

The girl grinned wordlessly at Clint and then up at her mother, snuggling into her side happily. The train braked to a halt and Clint, Nat, and Y/N stood to exit. 

“Where are we going anyway?” Y/N questioned as they took the stairs to rise to street level.

“You weren’t listening when Clint explained that he had to go to Bed Stuy to check out a few things in the apartment building he has?” Nat asked, knowing full well that Y/N hadn’t been listening at all when she agreed to the trip. 

“I guess I just wanted out of the tower for a while,” Y/N answered, careful not to look them in the eyes. Her thoughts absolutely didn’t travel to her partner and they certainly didn’t recall the vision of him lifting weights in the gym earlier that morning. An innocent bead of sweat rolled down his chest to disappear under a distracting white tank when he sat up on the bench press seat and Y/N had made a beeline for the door and ran out of the tower with the first people she saw: Nat and Clint. 

“Any specific reason?” Clint teased. Not everyone knew Y/N like he and Nat did. She came from SHIELD to the Avengers so they had the opportunity to know her and work with her before she ever entered the tower with Fury. She didn’t run away from anything unless it involved emotions.

“Just wanted some fresh air,” Y/N shrugged helplessly. 

“And you thought you would get it in Bed Stuy?” Clint asked incredulously. Y/N shrugged again; she couldn’t think of any other reply. The three pulled their coats closed against the February wind and proceeded to walk the couple of blocks to Clint’s building in silence. It didn’t take him long to check over the couple plumbing problems and fix one door (with Nat playing the all-important supervisory role). Y/N stayed lost in her thoughts as she sat on the stoop of the building, ignoring the cold seeping through the seat of her pants. She was used to the cold, living on the streets for most of her childhood tended to have that effect. At least it wasn’t snowing. 

It seemed they were back at the tower in the blink of an eye, Y/N had no recollection of the subway ride back or their conversation during that time. Her thoughts had stayed on Bucky, on him as her partner and on him in the gym. Her mind ran through possibility after possibility but always ended the same way: she and Bucky would be partners in work but that was all. He couldn’t possibly see anything else in her. Why should he? Why should she want him to? No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she didn’t care how Bucky saw her, she knew the truth of her heart. She wanted more than a partnership from Bucky Barnes, but with a small but heartfelt sigh, she resigned her heart to the feeling she had always carried deep within herself. It would only be a matter of time before everyone realized what she already knew: she wasn’t worth the effort. 

As they rode up the elevator in silence, Y/N missed the subtle interplay of facial expressions between Nat and Clint. Had she been paying them any attention, she would have known they were talking about her. She and Bucky specifically. 

_“You think they’ll end up together?”_ Clint’s raised eyebrows asked Nat. 

_“Wouldn’t you like to know,”_ Nat’s wink replied. 

_“That’s why I asked,”_ Clint’s quirk of the left side of his mouth answered. 

_“Talk later,”_ Nat’s narrowed eyes directed. Clint nodded slightly and turned to face the doors just as they opened. Bucky and Steve stood on the other side and both looked surprised to see the trio standing there. 

“Ah, Y/N,” Steve started as Nat and Clint slipped by the super soldiers entering the elevator. “Perfect timing. We need to head to the briefing room, Fury has a mission for you and Bucky.”

“Ok, great,” Y/N replied, schooling her features to withhold any emotions that might leak out without permission. Bucky was no longer wearing the ever-distracting work-out tank but his tight black t-shirt wasn’t much better. Clint turned and sent Y/N a wink and a little wave just as the doors were closing. 

Bucky stared hard at her slightly warbled reflection in elevator doors, something was off but he couldn’t put his finger on it… yet. He was determined to break through his partner’s shell. He thought he had managed that already since she confided in him about her childhood history, but she still held something back from him. Something he found important. Y/N avoided gazing back at him by finding her shoes suddenly quite interesting. Her silver and blue hair fell around her face, giving her the illusion of hiding. Thank any deity that would listen for hair! 

They entered the briefing room to find Fury there and pacing impatiently. He started talking as soon as they sat at the long table. 

“This one is time-sensitive and important, so listen up,” he started without any preamble. “There is a U.S. diplomat, Charles Anglin, whom SHIELD believes has ties to Hydra. We don’t have anything concrete on him yet, just a few instances that lead SHIELD to believe he’s hiding something. Plus, he has a cook at his house in Paris who had contacted SHIELD with information in exchange for extraction. The cook refused to give any information until he was with our ‘best agents.” 

A series of pictures of a dark-haired man exiting a car and entering a building began to flick across the monitor at the front of the room. 

“We’ve tracked Anglin to Paris a couple of days ago,” Fury explained. “He will be attending a ball at the French ambassador’s mansion in two days and that’s where you two will be to meet him. Get into his good graces, get invited to his house, I don’t care how. Get into his house, make contact with the cook, get whatever information you can from the cook, and get yourselves and the cook back to the compound within a week. Any questions?”

“What’s our cover?” Bucky asked. 

“You’re newlyweds on your honeymoon. Congratulations,” Fury replied dryly as he slid a fat envelope down the table to them. “James and Alice Walker. Stark has already gotten you an invitation to the French ambassador’s shindig. Your contact there will find you near the shrimp and smooth the way for you to meet Anglin. He will also make himself available should you need any help getting the cook out of Paris.”

“Near the shrimp?” Y/N questioned as she opened the envelope and dumped out wedding rings for each of them and a file containing other mission details. She handed the large, plain band to Bucky who was surprised to find that it fit over his metal hand. The diamond and matching smaller band slid onto her finger with ease.

“Got a problem with that?” Fury demanded, raising his one eyebrow in challenge. 

“Nope,” Y/N replied quickly. “Near the shrimp. I love shrimp. Should be fun.”

“Good, then this should be easy for you,” Fury replied, his voice saturated with sarcasm. “Each of you will see Stark before you leave and get your individualized accoutrements. Any other questions should be directed to Agent Hill, she will see you off. You leave tomorrow for Paris.”

Fury snapped his folder closed and strode out of the room quickly and silently. 

“I want to be impressed with him but I’m mostly just a little scared,” Y/N broke the silence with a quirk of her lips. 

“Ditto,” Bucky replied with a nod. “I’m going to see Stark and then get packed.”

“Good plan, I’m right behind you,” Y/N answered. Both stood and left the briefing room without a backward glance. 

“I’ll just stay here, shall I?” Steve asked the empty room, his lips tilting up in a smile. Bucky rarely had eyes for anyone else when Y/N was around and Y/N seemed to have a singular focus as well. He stood and pushed his chair back under the table with a sigh. Hopefully, they will both figure things out before too long.

Bucky and Y/N found Tony in his lab, right where they expected him to be. AC/DC blasted from speakers in the ceiling until Bucky shouted for FRIDAY to turn it down to a “respectable level”. Tony’s head shot up from behind what was either a big block engine or the motor for the tower’s refrigerator. Either way, Bucky hoped his fudge popsicles were safely still frozen in the freezer upstairs. He made a mental note to check on his way to his room to pack. 

“Oh, hey you two,” Tony said, wiping his hands on an oil rag. “I have a couple of things for you.”   
Following Tony to the only semi-clean workbench in the entire lab, Bucky started fiddling with what looked like a smaller version of a super soaker water gun.

“Be careful with that, it shoots acid,” Tony warned. Bucky very carefully put the gun down and took a step back. 

“Why on earth would you make that, Tony?” Y/N demanded.

“Why wouldn’t I make it?” Tony retorted. “Anyway, that’s not for you. These are for you.” Tony held up two thin bands, one black and one silver. 

“Oh,” Y/N frowned at the bands. She had been hoping for more. 

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist just yet,” Tony warned and held up the black band to Bucky. “This one’s for you, Frosty. It goes on your metal arm as near to your shoulder as you can get it.”

Bucky slid the stretchy band onto his left arm and pushed it nearly into his armpit before the band refused to stretch any more. Tony nodded and tapped once on the band. Bucky’s entire arm seemed to blink as the metal was replaced by skin that matched his other arm. 

“Whoa!” Bucky said, a smile spreading across his face. Y/N kept her gaze on his arm, his face held too many emotions for her to deal with. “That’s amazing, Tony!”

“It’s just a hologram,” Tony said. He grabbed Bucky’s wrist and while the image didn’t break, he could still feel the metal plates of the arm move. “It shouldn’t waver but anyone who touches your arm will know it’s not what it seems.”

“I can handle that,” Bucky promised and went to stare at his reflected in the tinted window nearby.

“The other one is for you,” Tony said to Y/N, handing her the silver band. “It goes around your wrist and will adjust its size to fit.”

Y/N slid the band around her right wrist and it immediately pulled in on itself to fit snuggly around her wrist, but not uncomfortably so. It also changed its appearance to look less like the stretchy material to something more decorative and metallic.

“What does it do?” Y/N asked. 

“It will alert you if Bucky’s band stops working,” Tony answered. “No matter how far away you are from him, if his band stops working and his metal arm is revealed, it will vibrate. Tap it once to make the vibrations stop and twice to send a reboot signal to Bucky’s band and, hopefully, restore the hologram. This will be especially useful if he can’t reboot his armband himself.”

Bucky returned from admiring his arm and was listening to Tony’s instructions. He experimentally tapped his band twice and his holographic flesh blinked once as if it were refreshing itself. Tony tapped his band once and the hologram collapsed on itself and disappeared. Y/N’s band-turned-bracelet vibrated silently. She tapped it once and nodded to Tony. 

“I think we got it,” she said. “These are great, Tony, thanks.”

“Anytime,” Tony nodded to both of them before he turned back to his engine or motor or whatever it was. “Be safe you two.”

Bucky and Y/N rode the elevator back up to the residence floor in silence. Bucky watched Y/N out of the corner of his eye but she gave nothing away even though she held herself stiffly in place. Just before they reached their floor, Bucky made a decision.

“FRIDAY, halt elevator,” he commanded. The elevator slid to a stop in between floors. 

“What’s up?” Bucky asked as he turned to his partner. 

“What do you mean?” Y/N asked innocently. 

“You’re stiff as a board,” Bucky replied. “Something’s going on, you’re not quite yourself. And why did you leave the gym this morning, I thought we were going to spar after I was done lifting.”

“Oh, I forgot, sorry,” Y/N replied quickly, again finding her shoes of particular interest. 

“Hey, Y/N,” Bucky called her attention softly as he moved to stand in front of her, his flesh hand gently pulling her chin up to look at him. “Talk to me. We’re about to go on an out of the country mission, we need to be on the same page.”

“We are!” Y/N insisted, forcing herself to look right into Bucky’s eyes. His beautiful blue eyes. Captivating eyes that held answers to questions she was afraid to even think about.

“Are you sure?” Bucky pushed, his hand leaving her chin to slide to her shoulder. “I want to make sure you’re okay before we leave. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

Y/N forced a smile, focusing on relaxing her tight muscles under his hand. “Of course, Buck, the same goes for you too. We’re partners.”

Bucky’s eyes narrowed as he assessed her smile. He had felt her shoulder tense at his touch then relax again. Something was still off but if she wasn’t ready to talk about it, he wouldn’t push her. They still had 15 hours until they left, plenty of time for him to get to the bottom on Y/N’s issue. He ordered FRIDAY to resume the movement of the elevator to Y/N’s relief. 

Bucky knew Y/N was toughened by her past, but before they left tomorrow, he made a personal promise to himself to make sure knew that she didn’t have to protect herself from him. Never from him. 

"By the way," Bucky said as they stepped off of the elevator and turned in opposite directions to head to their rooms. Y/N turned back to him, her eyebrows raised in question. Bucky smiled, "Happy Valentine's Day."


End file.
